"But Kawhi doesn't get hurt and the Spurs probably win easily (Golden State still probably makes a run...but SA wins that game by double digits)."

A few too many "probably's" in that sentence for someone who's been an NBA insider since before puberty imo.

If you watched the entire game, GS had already started to clamp down defensively before Kawhi got hurt for the second time and they'd cut it under 15 a few times, which is not an insurmountable deficit for them at all. I can assure you, they seemed very much alive and in the game after halftime, whether you believe it or not, which is why they didn't pack it in and give up like a lot of other teams would do when they're down that big at home.

I could just as easily say that Kawhi was 'probably' going to get hurt during the 4th quarter anyway and they 'probably' would have still lost. I respect the hell out of Kawhi and the Spurs in general and hate that he's hurt, but they're probably not going to beat the Warriors, and game one was probably their best shot at controlling the series.

^Nope. Just no. Spurs had the game won, it was over. Kawhi going down changed the game completely and gave GSW a spark seeing him go out.

Warriors were still winning the series, but that game was over until Kawhi went down. I'm not going to use any "probably" statements either, that game was over until the injury. Now they'll win game 2 with Kawhi out. Think the Spurs might still be able to steal 1 game in SA, but Warriors were always winning this series, the only question was the number of games.

Just saw this today, but it's worth the quick read. Nobody is better at overcoming big leads and winning than the Warriors.

I'm not going to deny that Kawhi going out had a huge impact on the game (clearly it did, based on the ensuing 18-0 run), but again, if you watched the ENTIRE game, the Ws were still in it, making adjustments, and Curry was starting to heat up.

I mean Steph had a big 3rd and KD had a big 4th. I just don't think they both go for as many with Leonard on the floor, hot or not.

Kawhi goes out and they still push GSW to the limit. So even if they still make the big run, don't see how you can think Kawhi doesn't make them at least a few points better for basically an entire half. He was +21 when he went out.

Winning titles is about being good, staying healthy, and getting lucky. Nothing wrong with admitting that they caught a break in game 1 with Leonard going out, no one is shitting on them.

As if one player, who side stepped onto Kawhi's foot while trying to contest the shot, meant it was a BountyGate type operation. Never mind the fact that he was already injured from the Houston game the week before and that his own teammate (David Lee) re-aggravated it just a few minutes before.

If we're going to be ridiculous, we should blame Pop for not resting him once the game was already out of reach, since the game was 'basically over' four minutes into the third quarter-like jbrick and so many eight year olds on the internet are claiming. They were 'probably' going to win anyway, so why risk him getting hurt again?

while originally i didn't think Zaza did anything blatantly wrong, after watching a number of replays i think it was a bit dirty. no, he's not coordinated enough to deftly place his foot directly where he knew Kawhi was going to land to injure his ankle - but he did continue into him an extra step, which led to the injury. he was probably just thinking "let me give it one more step, maybe give him a lower body bump and make him fall into the crowd, etc." unfortunately for every NBA fan in the country, it led to a series altering injury. now this series just sucks.

but either way there's no debate that Zaza can be a dirty player - watched him for years as an atlanta hawk on a nightly basis, and he was easily the dirtiest player on the hawks back then (that being said, when he left in 2010 and Ivan Johnson came along, he took Zaza's title and doubled down on it. I miss that guy)

It was reckless and careless, sure, but I don't think 'dirty' describes the play. Zaza's a big ogre and he's not exactly known for his fancy footwork, but when you're running around on an injured ankle, taking contested fade away 3 pointers, it come with a lot of risks and shit like this happens. It's basketball. Even Kawhi said he didn't think it was intentional, and when I saw it during the game I didn't even notice it until SVG kept screaming about it ad nauseam and then it was all over ESPN after they lost. Overall, is Zaza a dirty player? If you look at the volume of his work, you could say that, but this isn't the most egregious thing he's done. Not even close.

At this point, the NBA isn't going to do anything about it, and Pop did himself and his teams ZERO favors by completely giving up on game two and announcing to the world that he doesn't think the Spurs can win now without Kawhi. I don't think anyone can say a bad thing about Kawhi or his game, and while it's unfortunate he's hurt, the series isn't over and his injury isn't season ending.

I know some people would rather just bitch about it on the internet because there's nothing exciting to talk about right now, but I guess since Westbrook and his triple doubles don't matter anymore, the conversation will continue until something more interesting comes up, unfortunately.

A) slut-shaming a rape or sexual assault victim and saying she was "asking for it"

TO

B) an elite, but previously injured (and reinjured just moments before by his own teammate, no less) superstar NBA player getting side-stepped under by a tubby NBA center trying to contest his three point jump shot.

Btw, I never said anything about it being Kawhi's 'fault' btw or him "asking for it"; I simply said that shit like this happens, because it's fucking basketball and common sense says that if you take a jump shot with a sprained ankle and you're not 100% on balance, you can land on it wrong. If he had just landed on it poorly and hurt it without being stepped on/under later in the game, who would the internet blame for the injury then: Pop? David Lee? God?

TIL, from a Ws fan, that Zaza is an uncoordinated hack who can barely tie his shoes, let alone determine where his big, oafish feet land on the court. His Awareness rating in NBA Live 17 is probably a 29 out of 100.

Thomas blew his load early in the playoffs. It's the playoffs and now teams that have players with average NBA height are actually going to start to defend. I'd be very surprised to see Thomas throw up 40 again in the playoffs (watch him do it tomorrow night).

And why are we still discussing whether ZaZa is a dirty piece of shit? He's always been that. He doesn't change a dirty player to a "clumsy ogre" just because he's a Golden Boy now. He undercut Kawhi on purpose and that's it. Pop doesn't go off like that often. But players do it all the time...Bruce Bowen did it on the Spurs and players hated him for it. It's a bitch move...but unfortunately, it's part of the game. Just sucks that it's going to end up ruining that series. Spurs had a solid chance with a healthy Leonard.

Aldridge kind of tried it on Durant in game 2. Sucks that the Spurs aren't 100% as it could have been a good series.

Also LOL at UJW84 pretending ZaZa isnt dirty. Guy has a highlight reel of dirty plays one of which includes him basically trying to break Kawhi's arm in a prior game. Play was clearly dirty and he should have been suspended for a couple games.

"Play was clearly dirty and he should have been suspended for a couple games."

The NBA should let the opposing coach choose who is suspended when a player intentionally tried to injure someone. So instead of suspending some goon after he injures your MVP caliber player, you can choose their best player to be suspended.